Coupler carrier

ABSTRACT

An adapter unit for converting a railroad freight car equipped with an AAR Type &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;F&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; interlocking coupler to accept a noninterlocking rotary-type coupler for use in a rotary car dumper. The conversion is accomplished by the use of an adapter casting and a saddle casting in conjunction with various locking and retaining means to convert the existing spring supported coupler carrier to a rigid coupler carrier adapted to receive the shank of a rotary coupler.

United States Patent inventor Lee Gail Wisler [56] References Cited 0M0 UNITED STATES PATENTS P 2,718,968 9/1955 Metzger 213/61 (2,1969 2,884,143 4/1959 Blattner 213/61 m 1971 3,104,017 9/1963 Kulieke et al.... 213/6] Assignee Amsted Industries Incorporated 3 481 492 l2/1969 Hand 213/21 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Attorneys-Walter L. Schlegel, Jr. and Norvell Von Behren g g ABSTRACT: An adapter unit for converting a railroad freight a raw 3 car equipped with an AAR Type F interlocking coupler to [1.5. CI 213/61, accept a noninterlocking rotary-ty pe coupler for use in a ro- 213/21, 213/62 A tary car dumper. The conversion is accomplished by the use of Int.Cl B6lg 1/00, an adapter casting and a saddle casting in conjunction with 861g 7/10 various locking and retaining means to convert the existing Field of Search .l 213/20,.21, spring supported coupler carrier to a rigid coupler carrier 60, 61, 62 adapted to receive the shank of a rotary coupler.

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COUPLER CARRIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to railway car couplers generally and more particularly to an adapter unit for converting the striker assembly from a spring loaded design as used with an AAR Type F coupler to a design as used with a coupler mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axes for use on cars adapted for rotary dumping operations.

Prior art inventions have been successfully adapting a standard gauge railway ore car to one having a rotary coupler for car dumper operation. An example of such a rotary coupler mounting can be found in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,017, issued Sept. 17, 1963, to F. C. Kulieke et al. In order to use the mounting as taught by the patent, the existing striker assembly had to be removed and replaced with a new striker casting designed to accommodate the various parts of the invention.

The removal of the existing striker casting is often time consuming and expensive since it is generally welded or riveted to the forward end of the center sill of the railway car.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To alleviate this problem, the present invention provides a new and novel adapter unit which is designed to utilize the existing striker casting on a standard gauge railway freight car to convert from the AAR Type "F interlocking rotary-type coupler application to a noninterlocking rotary-type coupler application. This is accomplished by replacing the spring-supported coupler carrier with a rigid coupler carrier using the new and novel parts and arrangement thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple and economical way to convert a standard railway freight car to one suitable for use in a rotary car dumper.

Another object is to provide a new and novel rotary coupler mounting arrangement using the existing striker casting of the railway car to provide an adapter unit which prevents vertical separation of the coupler carrier saddle casting from the striking casting.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the attached drawing and from a reading of the description of the preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a railway car rotary coupler arrangement embodying the features of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section, partly in side elevation of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings a rotary coupler embodying features of the invention is applied to a railway car center sill and striker assembly, indicated generally at 10, having a draft gear pocket 12.

Formed integrally with or preferably welded to the forward end of the center sill is a striker casting 14 having a lower spring-supported coupler carrier portion 16 which contains a spring-supported co upler carrier (not shown) as used with a AAR Type F interlocking freight car coupler. For a detailed description of this type coupler, reference should generally be made to the U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,822, issued May l, 1965, to F. H. Kayler and specifically to FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6 wherein the spring-supported coupler carrier is shown in detail.

The operating coupler arrangement comprises a coupler head 18, containing a plurality of operating parts 20, and having a cylindrical shank 22 extending rearwardly from the head 18 and through an opening 24 in the striker casting l4.

Disposed within the draft gear pocket 12 is a yoke indicated generally at 26, preferably comprising a pair of vertically spaced longitudinally extending horizontal arms 28 interconnected at their forward ends by a pair of arcuated vertical sidewalls 30 which define with the adjacent portion of the arms 28, a pocket 32, presenting a generally cylindrical internal surface 34. The forward extremities of the arms 28 and sidewalls 30 merge with an annular inwardly projecting flange 36 adapted to partly close the forward end of the pocket 32.

Rotatably mounted in the pocket 32 is a collar 38 which is adapted to receive the rear end 40 of the coupler shank 22. The collar 38 also has extending vertically therethrough a pin 42 which pivotally interconnects the collar 38 and the rear end 40 of the coupler shank 22.

In converting the AAR Type F coupler to the rotary coupler, the spring-supported coupler carrier (not shown) contained in the carrier portion 16 of the striker casting 14 is removed and replaced with an adapter unit for use with the rotary coupler just described. The adapter unit of the invention converts the coupler carrier to a rigid carrier as hereinafter described.

The adapter unit comprises a U-shaped adapter casting, shown generally at 44, having a pair of upwardly extending arms 46 adapted to fit into the upper portion of the coupler carrier portion 16 of the striker casting 14. The arms 46 terminate at a pair of outwardly extending flanges 48 and a pair of inwardly extending flanges 50, the latter flanges forming an elongated slot 52 throughout the length of the adapter casting. The outwardly extending flanges 48 are adapted to rest on the upper portion 54 of the existing coupler carrier portion 16 of the striker casting 14. The arms 46 terminate at a bottom plate 56 to thereby form the generally U-shaped adapter casting 44.

Positioned over and associated with the adapter casting 44 is a saddle casting, shown generally at 58, and comprising an upper concave surface 60 for receiving the cylindrical portion of the coupler shank 22 and a lower downwardly extending T- shaped protuberance 62 adapted to be positioned in the slot 52 to lock the saddle casting 58 to the adapter casting 44 whenever the railroad car is overturned in the rotary car dumper. Sufficient clearance may be provided between the slot 52 and the T-shaped protuberance to permit the saddle casting 58 to slide transversely on the adapter casting 44 with the coupler head 18 during operation of the train.

The saddle casting 58 also contains a pair of downwardly extending arms 64 which fit over the outwardly extending flanges 48 on the adapter casting and are adapted to longitudinally restrain the saddle casting 58 on the adapter casting 44 during pulling and buffing operations of the coupler.

Contained within the adapter casting, and in the lower portion thereof, are retaining means in the form of a pair elongated retainers 66 which are part of the spring striker assembly that is to be converted. The ends of the retainers 66 are contained within a pair of existing apertures 67 formed in the sides of the striker casting 14 and fixed thereto by a pair of rivets 69. The retainers 66 thusly act as a retaining means to retain the adapter casting 44 and the saddle casting 58 in the upper portion of the carrier portion 16 of the striker casting 14 whenever the railroad car is overturned in the dumping operations.

From the foregoing it can be seen that there has been provided a new and novel adapter unit which may be used to convert an existing AAR Type F" interlocking freight car cou pler application having a spring-supported coupler carrier to a rotary-type coupler with a rigid coupler carrier without removing and replacing the existing striker casting contained on the freight car. While many changes may be made in the construction details without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims, the invention is not to be limited to the exact matters shown and described since the preferred embodiment has been given by way of illustration only.

I claim:

1. An adapter unit for converting a freight car having a striker member adapted to receive a spring-supported coupler carrier and an AAR Type F interlocking coupler, to a car having an unsprung coupler carrier capable of accommodating a noninterlocking rotary-type coupler for use in a rotarytype freight car dumper, comprising:

a. an adapter casting, positioned in the upper portion of the carrier member in place of the existing spring-supported coupler carrier;

b. means, associated with said adapter casting and the striker member, for retaining said adapter casting in the upper portion of the carrier member during rotation of the freight car in the rotary car dumper; said retaining means comprising a pair of elongated retainers positioned in the lower portion of said adapter casting and through a pair of apertures formed in each sidewall of the striker member;

0. a saddle casting, positioned over and associated with said adapter casting, for receiving the shank of the rotary coupler; and

d. means, associated with said adapter casting and said saddle casting, for locking said saddle casting to said adapter casting to prevent vertical separation of said saddle casting from said adapter casting during rotation of the freight car in a dumping operation; said locking means comprising an elongated slot formed on the upper portion of said adapter casting and adapted to receive a T-shaped protuberance formed on the lower portion of said saddle casting.

2. An adapter unit for converting an AAR Type F" interlocking freight car coupler striker assembly, of the type having a spring-supported coupler carrier positioned in a striker member, to a rotary-type coupler striker for rotary dump cars of the type having a rigid coupler carrier, comprising:

a. an upwardly extending U-shaped adapter casting, having a pair of outwardly and inwardly extending flanges formed on the upper portion thereof, said pair of outwardly extending flanges adapted to rest on the upper portion of the existing striker member and said inwardly extending flanges adapted to form an elongated slot throughout the length of said adapter casting;

. a saddle casting, positioned over and associated with said adapter casting, for receiving the shank of the rotary coupler, said saddle casting having formed in the bottom portion thereof a downwardly extending T-shaped protuberance adapted to be positioned in said slot to lock said saddle casting to said adapter casting; and

. means, associated with said adapter casting and the 

1. An adapter unit for converting a freight car having a striker member adapted to receive a spring-supported coupler carrier and an AAR Type ''''F'''' interlocking coupler, to a car having an unsprung coupler carrier capable of accommodating a noninterlocking rotary-type coupler for use in a rotary-type freight car dumper, comprising: a. an adapter casting, positioned in the upper portion of the carrier member in place of the existing spring-supported coupler carrier; b. means, associated with said adapter casting and the striker member, for retaining said adapter casting in the upper portion of the carrier member during rotation of the freight car in the rotary car dumper; said retaining means comprising a pair of elongated retainers positioned in the lower portion of said adapter casting and through a pair of apertures formed in each sidewall of the striker member; c. a saddle casting, positioned over and associated with said adapter casting, for receiving the shank of the rotary coupler; and d. means, associated with said adapter casting and said saddle casting, for locking said saddle casting to said adapter casting to prevent vertical separation of said saddle casting from said adapter casting during rotation of the freight car in a dumping operation; said locking means comprising an elongated slot formed on the upper portion of said adapter casting and adapted to receive a T-shaped protuberance formed on the lower portion of said saddle casting.
 2. An adapter unit for converting an AAR Type ''''F'''' interlocking freight car coupler striker assembly, of the type having a spring-supported coupler carrier positioned in a striker member, to a rotary-type coupler striker for rotary dump cars of the type having a rigid coupler carrier, comprising: a. an upwardly extending U-shaped adapter casting, having a pair of outwardly and inwardly extending flanges formed on the upper portion thereof, said pair of outwardly extending flanges adapted to rest on the upper portion of the existing striker member and said inwardly extending flanges adapted to form an elongated slot throughout the length of said adapter casting; b. a saddle casting, positioned over and associated with said adapter casting, for receiving the shank of the rotary coupler, said saddle casting having formed in the bottom portion thereof a downwardly extending T-shaped protuberance adapted to be positioned in said slot to lock said saddle casting to said adapter casting; and c. means, associated with said adapter casting and the striker member for retaining said adapter casting in the upper portion of the striker member during rotation of the freight car in the rotary car dumper, said retaining means comprising a pair of elongated retainers positioned in the lower portion of said adapter casting and through a pair of apertures formed in each sidewall of the striker member. 